Hoga will try to get us all a table, and burn a silver buying the first round of tasty, nutritious grog.
The tavern that you walk up to is indeed The Barking Seal and it is clearly open for business. The doors are propped wide open and you see a number of people going in and coming out. The ones coming out are quite obviously drunker than the ones going in.
Walking into the tavern you see a good number of pirates either sitting at tables drinking and gambling or standing up at the bar, also drinking. There are a couple of barmaids walking about, delivering mugs of ale to the table and getting the occasional slap on the ass as they walk by. One pirate walking behind one of the barmaids gets too grabby for her taste as is rewarded with a mug of ale in his face. Just as it appears that the pirate is about to hit her, what you can only assume is the bouncer comes up behind him, grabs the back of his shirt and pant and quite literally throws the fellow right out the door, sailing past you after you have all entered. Looking at the bouncer makes you think that Hoga is short for a half-orc because this fellow half-orc is huge, heavily muscled and just as heavily scarred which is easy to see as he is only wearing a pair of trousers.
Good job Duargo. hollers a man standing behind the bar. As tall and blonde as the man is, you guess he is Ulfen in heritage. After his shouting he turns back to the pirates standing before him and hands them mugs of ale.
Hoga is able to secure your group a table as one has just been vacated by the friends of the flying pirate as they go out to check on him, or maybe they just didn't want to stay anymore with Duargo glaring at their group....
Lunthawg will just walk up to the bartender and hold up the necklace (though he won't take it off).
Captain Ragnar sent us here.
Deron follows the goblin to the bar and smiles at his blunt statement.
Leaning over to Hoga
"Is this typical behavior? I heard it was a pirate town but I did not imagine it would be this bad."
They must murder each other in the streets
Hoga shrugs. Your guess is as good as mine!
The look on the bartenders face is clearly one of surprise as he looks down upon the goblin as he wonders aloud, What has Ragnar gotten into now that he would send a goblin in here to see us? Looking over to the huge half-orc, Duergo, clear the back room, I have need of it. The bartender then stops one of the barmaids as she walks past him to fetch some mugs. Ingva, go upstairs and tell Rolf he needs to man the bar for me, I have business to attend to. As Ingva nods and goes quickly up some stairs that are located off to the side of the bar, Deurgo comes out of the back room followed by several men grumbling about having their game interupted, though none voice their complaints directly towards Duergo.
Duergo, escort this goblin and his friends to the back room. Looking down at Lunthawg again, As soon as my brother gets his ass down here to watch over the bar I will join you and hear what you have to say. He then goes back to pouring drinks and Duergo motions for you to follow him.
Nothing like the direct approach...
Hoga smiles at the others.
"Let's get this done," Patch said with satisfaction, keeping an eye out around them for any potential trouble.
Several minutes after Duergo escorts you to the backroom, the bartender joins you. All right you lot, my name is Erich, now explain yourselves. What is Ragnar up to and why did he send you here? Erich takes a seat at the table and Duergo closes the door and stands in front of it.
"We - that is, us and Captain Ragnar and his crew - are looking for a girl who was taken by pirates. We figured they're probably going to sell her on the slave block. Her name is Valeria Wintrish. Have you heard any scuttlebut about her? The captain said you might be able to tell us something."
Well, you do hear a number of things working in a tavern and I do know a thing or to about the slave auctions, don't I Duergo? Duergo just make a grunt that could be an affirmative response as Erich gives a small chuckle. Now, that name sounds a bit Chelaxian to my ears, if that is true then I may indeed have an idea as to where she might be heading to. A couple of fellows were in here a couple days ago making some rather crude comments regarding an incoming shipment of potential slaves from Cheliax. They were apparently looking forward to breaking in some of them before selling them to the pleasure houses over in Quent. My barmaids were getting rather upset over their conversation so I had to have Duergo inform they were no longer welcome here. I'll bet at least two of them are still limping.
I can't say for certain that your girl was among the lot or whether or not she's still in the city, but I can give you directions to the auction house that was handling that shipment.
Should I speak? This is not really my quest, I am helping these people. They are being paid to find this little girl. When the time comes I will attempt to free the others as well. Nobody deserves to be enslaved.
Daniel rubs his wrists while listening quietly to Erich.
Patch exchanged looks with the other members of the crew. He could only imagine how the Lord Wintrish would "reward" them if they let such a fate befall his precious daughter.
"We'd surely appreciate it. You're helpin' Cap'n Ragnar out, and that's for certain. I'll buy you a round myself for it afore we head out." He pushed a few gold coins over towards Erich, far more than necessary for a round of grog.
Lunthawg yawns.
Plus this necklace comes with good rooms right? Do we also get free food? Assuming that the auction isn't...well right now...that is.
Deron listens quietly to the exchange. When Erich offers directions to the auction house he stands and prepares to leave once the directions are given. He doesn't seem intent on waiting long enough to eat, but he also doesn't appear to be ready to leave until the others are.
Rooms would be good, if such can be had. I'm with Patch. Let's take a gander at the place, see what we can find out. We can sleep after we've got a better idea what we're looking at. A real bed does sound good, though... Maybe a little more grog, too.
Next round of auctions begin at noon tomorrow. They never start before then because it takes them that long to climb out of bed from the night before. Erich takes a moment to laugh at his own joke, though Duergo only rolls his eyes, obviously used to his employer's humor. I can spare a couple rooms upstairs for the night and this backroom for now if you need to discuss anything you'd rather not be overheard planning. I'll be leaving Duergo to mind the bar and I'll send Ingva back with some drink and food. If you need anything else, ask them. I'll be heading on over to Ragnar's ship for a bit, I haven't seen my little niece for over a year. She's got too much sense to come ashore and visit me, so I've got to swim out and visit her. If there are no further questions, Erich gets up and leaves. Shortly thereafter, Ingva enters bearing a large platter with drink and food upon it and sets it down on the table.
"This sounds like a wicked business. What is our plan for getting the girl back?"
Sweet Gozrah tell me they have a plan.
Patch answered with food in his mouth, "I say we snoop about the pens where they're keeping the slaves. Maybe a bribe will spring her - I know I don't want to risk being outbid in the auction. Besides, she might not be in there. Hate to miss her due to bad timing."
He hefted a mug of grog in salute to the others. "And if a bribe won't do it, well, a shiv in the ribs is another way to get the keys. Let's just be sure we aren't seen, whatever the case."
He swallowed a gulp of grog, then added in a more serious tone, "I do want to be able to come back, after all. Home sweet home." He eyed Lunthawg. "How are you at sneakin' about unseen? You're small enough that the guards might not notice you. In any case, I say we go as soon as it gets dark. We can maybe sell some of the things we've found until then."
I'm up for a little snooping, too. Darkness isn't a problem for some of us. Any info is good info.
Is anyone good at...hiding? I mean I am, not that good, but I'm alright. If the plan is to sneak in, we probably need to stick to others that are similarly capable of not making a ruckus.
"I don't know about hiding, but Deron's pretty good at being quiet," Patch joked, still cramming food in his head. He paused to swallow and say, "If worse comes to worst, you've got that potion, Lunthawg. Anyway, we may need a good story about why we're there to stall for time during a distraction. Anyone have any ideas?"
After a moment, he added with a thoughtful look, "Y'know, if we could get the girl to swallow that potion, we might be able to walk right out with her. How are you lot at picking locks?"
Deron stands silently and listens to the plan. He nods at Patch's remark about hiding as if he isn't aware the man was joking.
"I am not good at hiding or sneaking or picking a lock. I should be able to provide a distraction if necessary, and I can see in the dark. Part of my blessing from Gozrah."
I was just thinking about how to get a hold of some tools. Perhaps I can scare some up before tonight.
Patch quaffed the last of his grog, then leaned forward, his voice low.
"All right, here's what I suggest. Once it's too dark for most humans to see well, some of us go create a ruckus to draw the guards who maybe can see in the dark. While we keep 'em busy with some song and dance about... well, something, Hoga and Lunthawg sneak in and get the girl out, giving her the potion of invisibility and keeping ahold of her until they're back to the ship. Lunthawg can maybe keep an eye out for trouble while Hoga works." He shrugged. "Maybe Hoga can free the other captives too. A stampede of prisoners would sure hide our escape. It'd be a good sign of when to jump ship, too." Patch sighed, wiping the sweat from his face with a hand. "I don't know about you lot, but I'd prefer not to be recognized by them as what caught the slaves to begin with. Maybe get our hands on some noble's togs, confuse 'em. I can clean up nice," he added with a cocky grin.
Good ideas, Patch. If the girl is indeed here, we won't be able to just grab her and sail away five minutes later. We'll need to hide our identities, and hers, well enough to escape detection. Slavers aren't too fond of folks what steal their merchandise, and I think we're outnumbered by those folk.
If I can have about 100 gold towards my share of our booty, I'll see if I can get some good tools that may help us get in and out of the place without making a racket. Patch and Daniel can find us some outfits, and maybe some other things to disguise ourselves a bit, in some of the shops. It also would be a good idea for someone to go down to the docks and see if the Sea Dragon is in port. Her name may be obscured or something, but maybe not.
Hoga will try to find some MW thieves' tools in town. If he can't buy some, he might steal them from a likely mark.
Patch passed Hoga the money and stuffed the pouch back into his shirt. "Maybe one of us can pass by the pens, casual-like, while the rest of us are gettin' set up, take a quick look. Just in case. Let's meet back here when we got what we need."
"Patch, Hoga, I think this plan will work."
Will this really work?
Hoga will poke around town, looking for likely purveyors of thieves' tool kits and something he can use as a mask to hide his half-orciness if he has to do some sneaking around. If he's spotted, at least he won't give his identity away without being caught.
He'll look for likely "Golarion gangbangers" and get a heads up on where to find the tools.
Hoga can find several rather disreputable looking shops placed between all the taverns and warehouses around the dock area. Given the random assortment of items for sale, it is reasonable to guess that these places are where pirates/sailors sell the random things that they take/steal/salvage from other ships. You may have to visit more than one, but you will be able find some decent thieves' tools and you can reasonably assume that this place might be decent to sell any of your groups random bits of loot at.
For whoever wants to wander by the pens, you can reach the auction area easily enough and there are lists posted near the auction block listing out the whole weeks worth of auctions. Looking on the list for tomorrows auctions, you can see that there is shipment listed as Chelaxian slaves. It is not hard to guess that the large warehouse with bars on its windows next to the auction block is the most likely place where the slaves are held.
Hoga will try to spend up to 100 gp to gather up a masterwork toolkit. If he can't, a regular one will do @ 30 gp.
He has no knowledge ranks yet, so nothing to roll there.
Deron accompanies Patch on his shopping trip. He doesn't really attempt to pose as anything other than what he is, given that he appears to be just like any other pirate.
What do you want us to do with the girl once we steal her? Are we just putting her on the ship and leaving right away? Disguises might work for a little bit...but I'm pretty bad at not looking like a goblin pirate.
While others are shopping, Lunthawg will just look around, he's mostly waiting for the purchasing to end so he can sneak into the area at night.
Hoga manages to find a masterwork toolkit after searching a few of the shops. Given that the case is a bit bloodstained, you may assume it was taken as loot at one point in time.
Though the streets are less crowded at night, there are still a fair number of people at all the taverns and you pass several drunks in the street as they are staggering back to their ships or inns and you are fairly sure that last person you saw near the alley was laying too still to be merely passed out drunk.
The area around the auction blocks and warehouse are fairly empty as there is no reason for anyone to bother tarrying here. In addition to the two pairs of guards making roaming patrols around the warehouse, Lunthawg and Hoga also notice that there is someone perched atop the roof at the front of the warehouse and that the second floor windows are not barred. The ground floor of the warehouse has a large double door in the front, several small barred windows along either side and a small single door in the back. Also near the back are two small doors set almost flat near the ground that most likely lead to a storm cellar of some sort. The storm cellar doors clearly have a chain and padlock on them, there is a large lock on the back door and you do not see a external lock of any kind on the double front doors.
Assuming there is enough darkness and shadow to use, Hoga will try to move silently and hide near one of the cellar doors. He's left his armor behind for max sneakiness, and covers his orcy face. Zunthawg, being a goblin, is as sneaky as Hoga without trying.
We don't want a fight, just the girl. I'll try to get the cellar opened, you keep an eye out, and let me know if you see someone.
Oops. Plan B!
Once Patch is done with selling the items, assuming he does so during the day and not the evening, Deron will accompany Hoga and Lunthawg. He remains nearby, but not right next to Hoga and covers his back while he attempts to open the lock. His shield has been left behind, but he's kept his armor on.
Daniel stays near Deron, fully equipped.
Just as Hoga hears a click and the padlock springs open, a pair of the patrolling guards appear to have spotted him. Hey you! What do you think you are doing over there? Move along quietly now or you will be joining those inside for sale on the block tomorrow.
As of right now, the guards do not appear to have noticed the rest of you as they make their way over to where they see Hoga crouching down near the cellar doors.
Daniel will continue to stay out of sight and scan the surrounding area for any other guards.
Assuming he doesn't see anyone else around, Lunthawg will wait to see what Hoga does.
Whaddaya gotta do to get a drink around here? Where's the tavern? It was here a minute ago...
Hoga will make no aggressive move, and will try to conceal his tools and attempted break-in.
Hmm. They won't buy the drunk act...
Waving their cutlasses at Hoga, Here now you stinking half-orc, come along with us quietly or we'll be having some fun with you.
Deron looks around for more guards.
When he doesn't notice any (at least if they're not wearing platemail, drunk, and knocking down walls) he rushes the guards.
Surprise Round
Round 1
Now that he's near them, Deron will attack with both his Scimitar and Spiked Gauntlet. (If the first guard drops from the first attack, he'll direct the second attack to the second guard.)
Surprise Round
Cast Sleep on the guards. Save DC: 15
Round 1
If there are any guards left standing, use Evil Eye on them targeting AC. Save DC: 15
Surprise Round Initiative 17
HP = 18
AC = 15
Weapon Equipped = None
Spells Left
1 5(5/day) Protection from Evil, Cure Light Wounds (DC 15), Detect Undead, Obscuring Mist
0 (at will) Purify Food and Drink (DC 14), Create Water, Light, Detect Magic, Guidance
Status = None
Round 1 Initiative 17
I have never been a fan of combat. I hope none of us gets hurt.
Deron moves up beside the guards with his weapon drawn.
Will saves for guards:
One guard falls asleep and the other appears quite surprised.
Deron gets the drop on the awake guard, slashing at him with his sword and opening up a gash in his arm and then finishes him off with blow to the face from his spiked gauntlet.